Springwatch episode 3 2020: Live from their home bases in the New Forest, Cornwall, west Wales and the River Thames, Chris Packham, Gillian Burke, Iolo Williams and Steve Backshall share the latest stories from the wildlife cameras.
Chris reveals how fish have more ways of making sound than any other vertebrate on the planet, Iolo reveals the intimate secrets of the bird families he has been following in his own back garden, and Michaela relives the dramatic story of a very skilful stoat in Minsmere in 2016. There is also the extraordinary spectacle of the firework sea anemone, and a rare reef made by beautiful peacock worms.
Springwatch episode 3 2020
Sabella pavonina, commonly known as the peacock worm, is a marine polychaete worm belonging to the family Sabellidae. It occurs along the coasts of Western Europe and the Mediterranean. The peacock worm it is found in shallow, tidal waters with a bed of mud, sand or gravel. It is sometimes found on rocks or shipwrecks.
It is 10-25 centimetres in length. Its body is elongated and divided into 100-600 small segments. The head has two fans of feathery tentacles arising from fleshy, semi-circular lobes. The body is mostly grey-green while the tentacles are brown, red or purple with darker bands.
The worm lives inside a smooth tube of fine mud or sand particles held together with mucus. The tube stands upright with the lower end attached to stones and the upper end protruding from the sea bed. When covered by water, the worm extends its tentacles out of the tube to feed by filtering out small food particles.[1] At low tide or when disturbed, it withdraws back into the tube.
Stoat
The stoat (Mustela erminea), also known as the ermine, is a mustelid native to Eurasia and North America. Because of its wide circumpolar distribution, it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List. The name ermine is used for species in the genus Mustela, especially the stoat, in its pure white winter coat, or the fur thereof.
In the late 19th century, it was introduced into New Zealand to control rabbits, where they have had a devastating effect on native bird populations. It was nominated as one of the world’s top 100 “worst invaders”.
